Tag: Chris Patten

Chris Patten: A craven Britain has demeaned itself with China, Brexit will make it worse

Hong Kong’s last governor is ‘astonished’ at Britain’s behaviour and says it must be firmer as it searches for a post-EU trade relationship

The British government’s “kowtowing” to China on issues including human rights and Hong Kong’s quest for democracy will become increasingly craven following the UK’s departure from the European Union, the former colony’s last governor has warned.

In an interview with the Guardian marking the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese control, on 1 July 1997, Lord Patten attacked what he called London’s repeated failure to challenge Beijing over its erosion of the territory’s freedoms and autonomy.

The Conservative peer said a sequence of “outrageous breaches” of the Sino-British handover agreement – including the alleged abduction of a group of political booksellers– had prompted little more than “a slightly embarrassed clearing of the throat” and some “tut-tutting” from Downing Street.

“On the whole, we have continued to operate under the delusion that unless you bow low enough you will never do any business in China,” Chris Patten said.

Advertisements

“Why should the Chinese tell … a western political leader whether or not he or she can meet the Dalai Lama? …” Chris Patten: A craven Britain has demeaned itself with China, Brexit will make it worse

Shares

The British government’s “kowtowing” to China on issues including human rights and Hong Kong’s quest for democracy will become increasingly craven following the UK’s departure from the European Union, the former colony’s last governor has warned.

In an interview with the Guardian marking the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese control, on 1 July 1997, Lord Patten attacked what he called London’s repeated failure to challenge Beijing over its erosion of the territory’s freedoms and autonomy.

#VoteTibet2017

Tibet Society is calling on parliamentary candidates to support human rights for Tibetans in Tibet.
#VoteTibet2017 candidate’s pledge: “I will use my position as an MP to support human rights for Tibetans in Tibet including the freedom to determine their own future.”